In this section

PUSEY

Pusey is a small parish containing only 1,040 acres,
of which two-thirds are arable land and the rest
permanent grass and woods and plantations. (fn. 1)

The northern boundary of the parish is formed
by the road from Faringdon to Abingdon. The
village is situated in the centre of the parish at a
height of about 260 ft. above the ordnance datum.
Pusey House, which was built in 1753 from the
designs of John Wood, architect, of Bath, is the
property of Mr. Philip Bouverie-Pusey, the lord of
the manor. It is at present occupied by Miss
Anson, sister of the late Rt. Hon. Sir William
Reynell Anson, bart., warden of All Souls' College,
Oxford, and author of several legal and historical
works, of which the best known is The Law and
Custom of the Constitution. The house is a rectangular
stone building, three stories high and having lower
wings at the sides of two stories with octagonal projections towards the front. It has a very plain
Renaissance elevation of the 18th century fronting
north-west with a hipped slate roof and a Doric
entrance doorway. It stands in a park containing
some fine timber. Edward Bouverie Pusey, Regius
Professor of Hebrew at Oxford and joint leader of
the Oxford Movement, was born at this house on
22 August 1800. South-west of the house is a Greek
circular temple, erected about 1759 to the memory
of Elizabeth Pusey, wife of William Brotherton, and
containing in the centre a statue of the lady.

Pusey House: North-west Front

In early times there were in this parish, side by
side with the manor of Pusey, two estates called
Bishop's Manor and Mansell's Court respectively,
but all traces of these seem now to have disappeared.
The soil is loam, while the subsoil is Corallian Beds.
The chief crops are cereals and roots.

Manors

At the time of the Domesday Survey
there were four distinct estates in PUSEY.
The first, which had been held by Alvred
of the Abbot of Abingdon in the time of Edward
the Confessor, was held by Gilbert of the abbey; it
was assessed at 2 hides, and was worth £3. (fn. 2) The
second, of 6 hides, which formed part of the Bishop of
Bayeux's fee, was in the possession of Roger de Ivrey,
his predecessor in the reign of Edward the Confessor
being Alvric. (fn. 3) The third was held by the foreign
abbey of St. Pierre-sur-Dives of the king, (fn. 4) and the
fourth, assessed at 2 hides, was held by Henry of
Henry de Ferrers, Domnig having held it of Edward
the Confessor. (fn. 5)

The first estate was afterwards called the manor of
Pusey, and has been held by the Pusey family from
time immemorial. There is
a tradition that it was granted
to the family by King Cnut,
and an ancient ox-horn with
a silver-gilt mounting of the
15th century bearing the inscription 'Kyng Knvude gave
William Piuse thys horne to
hold by thy londe' is still
preserved, by which it is said
to have been held (fn. 6); but it
appears that the Pusey family
first held this estate as tenants
of the abbey of Abingdon.
Gilbert was the name of the tenant in 1086, (fn. 7)
and in the chronicle of Abingdon Gilbert is again
given as holding 2 hides in Pusey of the abbey
between 1066 and 1087. (fn. 8) In 1166 Henry de Pusey
was holding Pusey of the old enfeoffment of the
abbey, (fn. 9) and he is mentioned three times in the Testa
de Nevill as holding a fee in Pusey of the barony of
the Abbot of Abingdon. (fn. 10) In 1261 Geoffrey de
Pusey granted land in Pusey to his son John, (fn. 11) and in
1272 Richard de Pusey granted lands and rents in
Pusey and other places to his son Henry de Pusey for
life. (fn. 12) Henry de Pusey was the holder of the estate
in 1316, (fn. 13) and his nephew and namesake (fn. 14) was in
possession in 1340, in which year he and others were
accused of taking away cattle belonging to Humphrey
de Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex at Pusey and
assaulting his servants. (fn. 15) In 1428 William Wattes
alias Richard, who had apparently married the widow
of a Pusey, was holding the half fee in Pusey
formerly belonging to Richard de Pusey, (fn. 16) and is
described in 1445 as 'William Richard of Pusey,
yeoman.' (fn. 17) Ashmole, writing in 1719, describes a
raised monument in the churchyard to Richard Pusey
alias Peasey, Pescod or Pecote, who, 'having in his
lyfetime received whole Christ, that is, not only as a
prophet and priest, but as Lord and King too, in this
true justifying faith dyed most comfortably 2 August,
1553.' (fn. 18) William Pusey died seised of lands in the
parish in 1577, his heir being his son Hugh, (fn. 19)
afterwards J.P. for Berkshire. (fn. 20) Hugh, together with
his son Richard and his grandson Richard, dealt with
the estate for the first time called 'the manor of
Pusey' in 1647. (fn. 21) The date of his death is uncertain,
but his son died in 1653 and his grandson in 1655. (fn. 22)
Richard, the son and heir of the last-named, was
aged fourteen on 18 March 1664–5. (fn. 23) The family
became extinct in the male line in 1710 by the
death of Charles Pusey, who bequeathed the manor
to his nephew John Allen, directing that he should
take the name of Pusey in addition to his own. (fn. 24)
On the death of John Allen Pusey without issue his
sister joined in settling the
estate upon the Hon. Philip
Bouverie, the nephew of his
wife, who was the daughter
of Sir William Bouverie, bart.,
and it was given up to him
in the lifetime of Mrs. Jane
Allen, the last survivor of the
sisters, who died in 1789. (fn. 25)
He assumed the surname of
Pusey in 1784 and died in
1828, being succeeded by his
son, the famous agriculturist
and pamphleteer, Philip
Pusey, (fn. 26) who took a prominent part in the formation of
what became in 1840 the
Royal Agricultural Society of England. He was a
very good landlord, rebuilding the cottages for his
labourers on the Pusey estate and providing them
with allotments, and proved himself a very practical
agriculturist in the management of his property. On
his death in 1855 Disraeli declared him to be 'both
by his lineage, his estate, his rare accomplishments
and fine abilities, one of the most distinguished
country gentlemen who ever sat in the House of
Commons.' (fn. 27) His son and successor Mr. Sidney
Edward Bouverie Bouverie-Pusey died in 1911, when
the manor passed to Mr. Philip Bouverie-Pusey,
nephew of the last owner and the present lord of
the manor.

Pusey of Pusey. Gules three bars argent.

Bouverie. Party fessewise or and argent an eagle sable with two heads having on the breast a scutcheon gules with a bend vair.

The Domesday holding of Roger de Ivrey was
what was afterwards called the manor of MANSELL'S
COURT. The barony of Ivrey was granted to Guy
de St. Valery by Henry I, and this estate was afterwards held of the honour of St. Valery. (fn. 28) When the
honour escheated to the Crown in the reign of
Henry III the overlordship of the manor remained
with it, passing to Richard Earl of Cornwall by grant
of Henry III, (fn. 29) and after him to his son Edmund,
and on his death in 1300 to Edward I as his cousin
and heir. (fn. 30)

A chartulary of Oseney Abbey throws much light
upon the early history of the manor. From it it
appears that Walkelin Waard or Wadard was the
tenant about 1135–40, and his daughter Helewis
brought it in marriage to William Avenell. (fn. 31) Their
son Walkelin Hareng succeeded to the estate, and sold
it, viz., 2 hides of land, manor-house and advowson, to
Ralph de Cheney between 1179 and 1182. (fn. 32) Ralph
de Cheney before 1193 gave the manor to Oseney
Abbey, (fn. 33) which is returned by the Testa de Nevill as
holding 3 carucates of land in Pusey. (fn. 34) Between 1205
and 1221, probably nearer the latter date, the abbey
granted the manor for 60 marks to Roger de Kingston
to hold at a rent of 10s. a year. (fn. 35) Roger de Kingston
was dead by 1235, (fn. 36) and his widow Joan de Kingston,
Henry Franck of Pusey, and Richard de Kakel were
holding between them two-thirds of a fee in Pusey of
the honour of St. Valery. (fn. 37) In 1275 Roger le Coumber and John de Limesey held 6 hides belonging to
the St. Valery honour in Pusey, (fn. 38) but Nicholas
Kingston and Margery his wife were holding the
estate in 1297, (fn. 39) and three years later they exchanged
it for the manor and advowson of Tortworth (co.
Glouc.) with William Mansell and his wife Margaret. (fn. 40) It was from these new owners that the estate
acquired the name of Mansell's Court. William
Mansell was still holding in 1316. (fn. 41) In 1395 Philip
Mansell of Gloucester was
seised of Mansell's Place in
Pusey. (fn. 42) Thomas Mansell
owned property in the neighbourhood in 1467, (fn. 43) but it is
uncertain whether it included
Mansell's Court. John Fettiplace died seised of the manor
of Mansell's Court in Pusey
held of Wallingford Honour
in 1510, and was succeeded
by his son Philip. (fn. 44) Philip
died in August 1546, and his
son and heir Anthony a month
later, so that the estate passed
to Anthony's son Edward. (fn. 45) Edward died seised of
the manor of Mansells in 1597, and was followed by
his son and heir Thomas, (fn. 46) who died in 1612. (fn. 47)
Thomas's heir was his sister Margaret, the widow of
Christopher Fettiplace of Letcombe Regis, who had
died in 1609. (fn. 48) In 1628 Edmund Fettiplace, the
son and heir of Margaret and Christopher, (fn. 49) sold the
manor to Samuel Dunch, (fn. 50) the third son of Sir
Edmund Dunch of Little Wittenham. Samuel Dunch
died in 1668, and his estates passed to his son John
Dunch, M.P. for the county 1654–9, who married
the daughter and co-heir of Richard Major of
Hursley (co. Hants). (fn. 51) Their son Major Dunch was
a Presbyterian, and obtained licence to hold service
in his house at Pusey in 1672. (fn. 52) He was Sheriff of
Berkshire in 1677 and died at Pusey in 1679. (fn. 53) His
only son Wharton died without issue in 1705, and
consequently his only daughter Jane, the wife of
Francis Keck of Great Tew (co. Oxon.), became the
sole heir of all his vast estates. (fn. 54) Francis Keck by
will left his estates to Anthony Keck, probably his
son. (fn. 55) From the latter they passed to his grandson
and heir Anthony, who in 1749 sold the manors of
Mansell's Court and Bishop's Manor to John Allen
Pusey, (fn. 56) the owner of the main manor, with which
from this time onward they have passed. (fn. 57)

Mansell. Argent a cheveron between three manches table.

BISHOP'S MANOR was probably in origin the
estate owned by the abbey of St. Pierre-sur-Dives,
at the time of the Domesday Survey, although it is
unknown how it acquired its distinctive appellation.
At the beginning of the 13th century 3½ carucates
were said to be of the fee of the abbot in Pusey, (fn. 58)
while John Geffrey seems to have been the owner in
1316. (fn. 59) Mary the wife of John Pope of London,
chandler, quitclaimed half the manor of Pusey for
100 marks to Edmund Giffard in 1379. (fn. 60) In the
next century it is found in possession of the Doget
family. Henry Doget, gentleman, died in 1480, and
with his wife Amice lies buried in Pusey Church. (fn. 61)
He left several daughters, and some time afterwards
there was a lawsuit as to the succession to 'the halfmanor called Bishop's Manor' between Clement
Cotton, the son and heir of one of them, Juliane
Cotton, and Amice the widow of Henry Doget, who
was then the wife of Edmund Wyghthyll. (fn. 62) Apparently the judgement was in favour of Amice, for in
the inquisition on the deaths of Philip and Anthony
Fettiplace it is described as 'late belonging to
Edmund Whitehilles, and Amice his wife in her
right.' (fn. 63) The Fettiplaces were seised of it in 1546,
and from this date onwards the history of Bishop's
Manor is identical with that of Mansell's Court (q.v.).

Henry de Ferrer's estate in Pusey probably descended with his great manor of Stanford in the
Vale (q.v.).

In 1244–5 Cecily, late wife of John Paternoster,
held a virgate in Pusey of the king's gift by the service
of saying each day five Paternosters for the king. (fn. 64)

Church

The church of ALL SAINTS is an
18th-century building consisting of a
shallow sanctuary, north and south transepts, nave and west porch. It does not stand on the
site of the old building, which stood near Pusey House,
and it is said to have been rebuilt in 1745.

The style is Renaissance, and the sanctuary is entered
by a keyed semicircular arch, the east window being
of three lights. The transepts are separated from the
body by stone screens with fluted Ionic columns supporting a semicircular central arch and two squareheaded arches at the sides. The nave has a single
round-headed window in each wall, and all the roofs
are flat and ceiled with plaster. At the west end is
a square stone bellcote finished with a cornice, and
containing two bells. The west porch is pedimented.
In the north transept is an elaborate marble tablet,
with cherubs and three shields, to Major Dunch
(d. 1679); the arms are Dunch, Wharton and Dunch
impaling Wharton. Near it is a marble tablet, bearing the Dunch arms, to Wharton Dunch (d. 1705).
In the south transept is an elaborate white marble
monument by P. Sheemakers, with a seated female
figure, to Jane wife of John Allen Pusey. It bears a
shield of the quartered coat of Pusey impaling
Bouverie.

The wooden font, in which Dr. Pusey was baptized,
has been removed from this church, and is now at
Grove, in Wantage parish.

The plate is all modern, and includes a flagon,
chalice, paten and two almsdishes.

Advowson

There was a church on Roger de
Ivrey's estate in Pusey at the time
of the Domesday Survey. (fn. 65) The
advowson went with it (fn. 66) until the sale of the manor
by Oseney Abbey to Roger de Kingston at the
beginning of the 13th century. (fn. 67) In July 1198
Herbert Bishop of Salisbury allowed Oseney to appropriate the rectory 'salvo honesto et competenti
vicario,' but in December 1269 the bishop ordained
that Oseney should receive only 4 marks a year from
Pusey, while the rector was to keep the rest. (fn. 68) The
abbey retained the advowson until the Dissolution,
when Henry VIII granted it to William Gorfen of
Reading. (fn. 69) From this time the advowson went with
the manor of Charney Bassett (see Longworth) for
nearly two centuries, (fn. 70) passing by sale to William
Dunch from William Paulet in 1580, (fn. 71) and descending to Francis Keck and Jane his wife, who dealt
with it by fine in 1706. (fn. 72) In 1749 it was sold by
Anthony Keck with Mansell's Court and Bishop's
Manor to John Allen Pusey, (fn. 73) and in 1822 Philip
Pusey the younger dealt with it by recovery. (fn. 74) In
spite of this Lysons in 1813 gives the Bishop of
Salisbury as patron of the rectory, (fn. 75) and the bishop is
certainly found presenting in 1679, 1723, 1795, 1796
and 1806. (fn. 76) In 1836 Berkshire was transferred to
the diocese of Oxford, and at the same time the
Bishop of Oxford acquired the patronage of those
benefices which had hitherto been in the gift of the
Bishop of Salisbury. (fn. 77) Since this date the advowson
of Pusey has been in the hands of the Bishop of
Oxford.

There do not appear to be any endowed charities
subsisting in this parish.

66. It is very difficult to account for the
charters to the priory of Chacombe (co.
Northants) cited in Dugdale (Mon. vi,
426–7); the grant of the church of Pusey
to the priory by Hugh de Chacombe and
the confirmation of Hugh de Chacombe's
grant of the church of Pusey and 2 hides
in Pusey and Buckland by Robert de
Chacombe. They are to some extent
supported by the entry in Testa de Nevill
(p. 132), 'Prior of Chacombe's Pusey
one carucate,' but there seems to be no
further reference to a connexion of the
lords of Chacombe with this parish. The
priory possessed nothing in Pusey at the
time of the Dissolution.